Happy 2007
by Aaron Smiley
Summary: Happy New Years to TMNT Fanficers. Just a mellow little story I whipped up about Leo on New Years morning in the Lair. one Shot.


Author's note: Ok, so New Years was a couple days ago but the fact that this plot bunny didn't bite until halfway through 1-1-07 and the fact I didn't really have the time to be writing thi anyway, has to count for something!

So anyway, I haven't been writing (like none...NONE AT ALL!) and I was missing it so much and without much inspiration for anything else I've started I just made myself type and here's what popped out. It took a couple days to finish it and refine. I kept going into too much detail in narrator mode which felt too boring when I reread it, so hopefully this will not bore you, it's just something I had to write for the sake of creativity and my sanity.

Disclaimer: I don't own Leonardo (pouts) and I don't own any of the other TMNT characters mentioned in this story.

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Leonardo wandered drowsily around the lair, bending down here and there to pick up strings of ribbon blown from poppers and bits of confetti from the night before. 

The place was absolutely trashed. It looked like the definition of chaos.

He placed his fists full of decorations and bits of colorful paper confetti on his hips and gazed a long time at his home.

Tangled streamers drooped from the ceiling; tiny bits of colored paper along with the strings of ribbon, horns, empty poppers, hats, noisemakers and a few cups and paper plates with half eaten food left on them covered the entirety of the floor littering their once clean home.

Leo shook his head; it was going to take FOREVER to pick all this up.

_At least the bright multicolority of the streamers and confetti look kinda cheerful_, he thought to himself, trying to be positive. Then stopped and closed his eyes tiredly and put a fist up to his face to rub the rest of the sleep from his eyes.

_Is "multicolority" even a word?_

He scratched the back of his head with his wrist, trying not to drop any of the trash he'd already picked up.

_Doubt it._

Leo yawned and shook his head at the mess again. How eight people –er… individuals could create such a mess was beyond him. How he had been talked into staying up three hours past midnight was also a mystery, even though he'd been right there to observe it all. Leo yawned again and turned to make his way towards the kitchen.

April, Casey, and Leatherhead had joined the family of four mutant turtles and their rat master in celebrating the bringing in of the new year.

As midnight approached, they excitedly shouted the countdown in the comfort of the turtles' lair, gathered around the telecast of the festivities at Time Square, chanting along with the rest of New York,

_10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…_

_HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!_

April and Casey immediately turned to kiss each other enthusiastically. Mike picked up Klunk and gave his little kitty a big smack on his furry little head. The Leo, Don, Raph, Splinter and dear ol' Leatherhead opted for handshakes, hugs and the occasional high three from Mikey. The bunch circulated within itself, offering continued congratulations and 'Happy New Year's until, in the middle of it all, April broke away from Casey and planted a big kiss on Don's cheek. The turtle blushed furiously under everyone's surprised stare until April came after the rest of the mutants with the same fate as the embarrassed turtle in purple.

Before they knew it, the clock was reading 3 o'clock AM.

As Leo entered the kitchen his eyes flicked to the small clock on the microwave.

_8:30. Not bad._

He cocked his mouth to the side calculating a total of about five hours of sleep, more or less.

The young turtle mostly could barely hope to sleep in past seven; his body being too attuned to his routine of waking at 6:30 each morning for a brief morning meditation and several katas before breakfast for several years now. His brothers thought he was insane; especially Mike and Raph who fought to sleep in past eleven on holidays. Even Master Splinter managed to break his normal sleeping pattern on certain occasions such as today.

Walking further into the kitchen, Leo made his way to the sink. He bent down in front of it to open the cupboard below and retrieve a trash bag to put his handfuls of garbage into then travel around the lair with. But as he knelt in front of the cupboard he realized he had no way of opening it while both his hands full. He frowned and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. He tried to use the side of his wrist to catch the knob to pull it open.

It didn't work.

He tried to pull the knob open with his two elbows, but the pads he wore at the ends of them couldn't hold on to the little knob and kept slipping off. Finally he tried to open the cupboard by biting the knob with his teeth and pulling.

It budged!!

Leo tried to keep it open by letting go with his mouth and darting to catch the top of the door under his chin, but the crack he'd opened was too small and snapped shut too quickly for even his ninja reflexes.

He tried again with his teeth, deciding to pull farther out this time before letting go. He attached himself to the knob and leaned back, but as he pulled the door came to an abrupt stop against his body sitting in the way. The awkward position he was in now made it difficult to slide himself backwards. In the process, he accidentally let go of the knob and the cupboard snapped shut.

Leo frowned even harder at the cupboard. He sat there strategizing and considering his options in frustration. Finally he gave one last glance at his full hands and the knob on the cupboard, heaved a sigh, gave up and in one large motion threw the confetti up in the air above his head.

He watched the brightly colored paper and string float down around him and settle on the ground. He reached out to open the cupboard with a free hand thinking,

_Happy 2007, Leonardo._

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THE END

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Happy New Year to everyone at and Stealthy Stories!!! 

Reviews are nice and are appreciated but if you don't feel compelled to comment don't worry about it ;-D


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